Page 25 of Angel's Share

“Don’t knock it ’cause you’re old.”

Crisis averted, snark back in effect, Aidan continued on his intended trajectory to the kitchen. “I’ll have you know, I learned to truss a turkey from the Internet.”

“You’re like fifty, aren’t you? How did you not know that?”

“Forty-nine,” he corrected as he replaced yesterday’s grounds with fresh ones. “For a few more months, at least, and as for the trussing, Jamie’s the chef. I can cook a few things well, mostly Latin food and Irish staples, but there was this year when Jamie was on the road with the team right up until Thanksgiving morning, and I was determined to have the turkey ready when he got home.”

“How’d that go?”

He pressed the Brew button, then rested back against the counter. “Paid the neighbor an obscene amount of money for theirs.”

Angel laughed, then, catching sight of his still sleeping friend, slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle the sound.

“You didn’t have to stay up,” Aidan said. “There’s a guard outside.”

“I know, I just?—”

“I get it. Jamie was hurt pretty badly once. I stayed by his bedside all night, even with Mel and Danny right outside and all of us in a CIA safe house.”

Angel’s eyes grew wide. “What?—”

“Nope, above your pay grade,” he said as he turned back to the coffee pot. “How do you take your coffee?” He probably should have asked Izzy if Angel was allowed to have coffee at all, but if he was anything like his mother, he’d been drinking the stuff half his life already.

“Little bit of coffee in my milk and cinnamon. Please.”

Aidan smiled. Just like his mother, who had left before dawn for an up-and-back to Seattle. Izzy had also agreed with Jamie’s suggestion from last night. “Are y’all up for school today?”

Angel scoffed. “Y’all?”

“It slips sometimes.” Aidan brought Angel’s coffee and cinnamon milk to the table. “Hazards of being married to a Southerner. We’ll get you and Bev there, then Ward will bring you to the office afterward.”

“The guard? He’s gonna be on us all day? He’s huge, everyone will?—”

“He knows how to hang back. He’s used to protecting rock stars.”

“For real? What rock stars do you know?”

“Not me, but friends.” Both Matt and Levi had connections to the LA music scene, and Ward had come highly recommended. “The federal prosecutor may have more questions for Bev, and I’m sure he’ll have some for you too.”

Angel sipped his coffee, quiet for a moment before speaking again, his voice sincere, void of its usual snark and with a hefty dose of regret. “I’m sorry I didn’t cooperate. I just didn’t want them to hurt her. Maybe if I’d said something sooner...”

Aidan lowered into the chair beside him. “Don’t play that game with yourself. She’s here now. She’s safe.” He covered Angel’s hand with his. “And so are you.”

Angel lifted his hopeful blue gaze to Aidan’s. “I’m starting to believe you.”

SEVENTEEN

“Everything look good?” Jamie asked Matt, who’d agreed to give the protective custody paperwork a final once-over.

Rick had given them a massive head start, completing the bulk of it before Jamie and Aidan had arrived. They’d just needed to fill in some details, and once done, there was no one better to check over the final package than Matt. Prior to moving out west, he’d worked with Cam on kidnap and rescue cases in Boston. Much of their caseload had involved working with juvenile victims and witnesses; he’d seen plenty of these forms over his career.

“I know you’ve filled these out before,” Matt said as he skimmed the pages. “Cam told me about that child pornography case he worked with you and Aidan early on. You had to place all those kids afterward.”

Jamie shivered, remembering that bone- and soul-chilling bust on a foggy September morning. Matt was right; they’d had to arrange protective custody for dozens of kids pending conclusion of the case. But that custody paperwork and the paperwork for this case were fundamentally different, at least where it concerned him and Aidan. “We didn’t place any of those kids with us.”

“So, why’s Bev different? We have usual channels for this. Safe houses and fosters that have been vetted.”

“Because she’s important to Angel.” He glanced past Matt, Aidan’s red hair catching his attention as he and Berat led a handcuffed White to the interrogation room. “And because Angel is important to Aidan. He can’t—won’t—disappoint him again.”

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